Data Mining and Shopping

Data search

Jill CataldoCTW Features

If you shop online, use a store’s loyalty program, print a coupon or even pay with a credit card, your personal data is being mined. It’s not necessary to be alarmed, though – marketers use data mining to improve the kinds of offers that are given to shoppers.

My readers have noticed some interesting examples of data mining that they welcome, as it makes their lives easier:

“Dear Jill,

I shop on Amazon frequently. One of the things I have noticed is that they seem to estimate the expected lifetime of the things I buy and then suggest to me that it’s time to buy something again. For example, I bought a new leather wallet almost two years ago. This week, Amazon randomly started showing me new wallets. I believe that somewhere in their system, they think my wallet must be wearing out now. We also buy diapers for our baby through them. Right around the time our son was ready to move up from size 1 to size 2 diapers, Amazon started showing me the larger size. I thought that was pretty neat.

Eric K.”

“Dear Jill,

A few months ago, we got a new puppy. I’ve been buying her food at the supermarket, because every few trips I would get a coupon printed from the register for more puppy food. Well, we’ve had her for about nine months now, and now I’ve noticed I get coupons for regular dog food at the register. It’s almost like they know our puppy is growing up!

Kara V.”

Think about the goals of the products and brands involved with both of these readers’ emails. In both cases, it’s no coincidence that these shoppers are receiving personalized offers. The data behind these shoppers’ past purchases is being used both to surprise them and encourage them to make a future purchase.

The Catalina coupons that print in the checkout lane at many retailers tap into a wealth of data to offer you personalized offers. A lot of data is being crunched behind the scenes as your groceries are scanned. The system’s data knows the last time you bought a particular brand of juice and whether or not you regularly buy competitors’ brands of juice, too. It’s amazing how quickly this information is processed – in mere seconds – to determine if you should receive more personalized offers at the end of your transaction.

I’ve been buying hair color for years, and quite some time ago I noticed that around month after I would purchase a box, I would get a Catalina coupon at the checkout for the same brand of hair color. The system knows it’s about time for me to purchase another box and cover up those roots!

If you’re fiendish about your privacy, you’d have to eschew many of the conveniences of modern life to completely avoid data mining – and, of course, pay in cash. To take advantage of online shopping without a credit card, you’d need to purchase debit cards (again, with cash) and then use those to shop. Even that step won’t completely make you impervious to data mining, as a reader found out:

“Dear Jill,

I’m very privacy-minded and I try to buy things with cash whenever I can. I do have a gift-card style Visa card that I have bought for Internet purchases and some groceries. Imagine my surprise when I used this credit card to buy groceries, and coupons for the same items I bought a few weeks ago came out. I got coupons for lotion, cat food and yogurt, and they were the same brands I previously bought with this card. How did they know this card belongs to me?

Jeanette K.”

The store may not know that you personally are the owner of the pre-paid Visa, but the card does have a purchase history attached to it. Each purchase made with that card number adds to the history attached to it. Again, the only way to fully escape this kind of tracking is to pay with cash.

Jill Cataldo, a coupon workshop instructor, writer and mother of three, never passes up a good deal. Learn more about Super-Couponing at her website, www.jillcataldo.com. Email your own couponing victories and questions to jill@ctwfeatures.com.